Sam chuckled, ”The nerds in my high school said magic tricks got them the girls.” Sam started drawing on the paper Svetlana had procured. ”Don’t remember them getting many dates though.”

A couple circles to contain the spell and a few sigils in the right arrangement and Sam was done. It took him all of a minute. ”Not a hard thing to just happen to doodle. And an even easier thing to activate.” Sam rolled up another page from the notepad and then while holding the rolled up paper over the drawing, pressed his hand into the drawing.

The end of the paper in Sam’s hand lit up like a candle.

”Ta-da.” Sam said with mock excitement before blowing the fire out.

”I was a philosophy major and as a philosophy major I did the totally normal thing of going into literally any other career because how many philosophers do you know? As for why MRC… I guess Normative ethics just stuck with me. Especially Utilitariaism. The act that creates the greatest happiness for the greatest number is the right act. My being a Detective means I can act to protect the greatest number of people. Work long term cases instead of just a beat.”

>>”The nerds in my high school said magic tricks got them the girls. Don’t remember them getting many dates though.”

"The magic trick is making them disappear from your vicinity" Sveta grinned, sipping her beer. She watched intently as Travis drew magic signs, whatever they were, and then set a piece of paper on fire. Sure, it would have been easier to use a lighter... but the implications were very serious. She gave him an appreciative nod.

>>”I was a philosophy major and as a philosophy major I did the totally normal thing of going into literally any other career because how many philosophers do you know? As for why MRC… I guess Normative ethics just stuck with me. Especially Utilitariaism. The act that creates the greatest happiness for the greatest number is the right act. My being a Detective means I can act to protect the greatest number of people. Work long term cases instead of just a beat.”

"So you wanted to do good. Nerd." She grinned. Long or short, he was a detective because he believed he was doing good in his job. Even if it was in a weird way. If anyone, Sveta understood doing good in a shady way. She glanced at the signs again. "It's still weird. I've seen mutants do things much bigger than that... but you are not a mutant. It's a whole different kind of power."

”Well, then they must have been Merlin’s of their day.” Though, had the kids actually been able to perform magic it might have helped them attract girls. That, or if they had more to their personality.

”If wanting to do good makes me a nerd, Lord help us. And I think I need to avoid locker rooms.” Sam said. He noted the grins he was getting from Svetlana. It was a good sign of some kind of trust. That was good. Trust helped him.

The paper sold point one. That magic wasn’t that hard to happen into if you’re capable of it. Doodles on a page could light something on fire.

Now he had to sell point two. Even his big magic had the right limitations.

”I can do bigger. I can’t do bigger fire, but I can do bigger.” Sam took a long pull from his beer and set it on the counter as he took one of the keys in hand. With the other he ran his fingers through his hair a few times to collect some strays. ”Describe someone. As detailed as you can be. Build, colorations, height, sex. Hell rings size even, if you want.”

As much as the detective seemed like the stereotypical American cop, he did seem to enjoy showing off his magic powers. That was a marked difference for Sveta. Mutants (including herself) spent so much time hiding their powers from people, one rarely ever saw them genuinely showing off what they could do, without fear of it backfiring on them. Magicians... they were different. They chose and learned their powers. They picked what they could do. They had no shame about it.

>>”I can do bigger. I can’t do bigger fire, but I can do bigger. Describe someone. As detailed as you can be. Build, colorations, height, sex. Hell rings size even, if you want.”

Sveta had refused to do the key thing, but he seemed intent on showing it anyway. She arched an eyebrow, leaning back, and gave him a thoughtful look.

"Anyone?" she ventured. She had no idea what was about to happen, so she didn't really want to bring a personal friend into it. "Queen of England."

”Anyone.” Sam confirmed. He then regretted that when Svetlana gave her suggestion.

Sam hadn’t meant for her to suggest a real person, but that worked as good as anything. ”Not… At all what I had in mind, but okay. Here goes.”

Holding the key in one hand, Sam held tight to the hairs he had collected. This would be a very bad time to lose those hairs. He raised the key to his chest and while he held an image of the Queen of England in his mind he pressed the key toward himself. It passed through his shirt like his knife passed through material without damaging it. The key then passed into his chest as far as a normal key would into a lock.

Sam closed his eyes and turned the key.

Immediately there was a flash of light and Sam’s DNA was rewritten both genetically and epigenetically and his form was altered to fit his new genetics, styled after the image he held in his mind.

”Tada.” Sam said with the Queen’s voice, but with a distinctly not English accent.

The woman that now stood before Svetlana was close. So very close to the actual Queen of England. However since Sam was working off his memory of pictures of the Queen he appeared slightly younger, was an inch too tall, and the hair was more gray than it should have been.

”It changes the person down to the genetic level, but it does not change the essential nature of a person. Those who can use magic can still use magic, those with mutations still have their mutations, and those who lack either ability still find themselves lacking.”

Sveta named the first person that came to her mind. It was an odd choice, but hey, she'd had a long day already. Travis rolled with it, putting the key into his own chest, and transforming into the goddamn queen of goddamn England in a flash of light.

Sveta stared, then downed the rest of her beer.

"Yeah, that's not freaky at all..."

He... turned into a different person. Again, Sveta had seen stuff like this from mutants, but for someone to do that with magic...

>>”It changes the person down to the genetic level, but it does not change the essential nature of a person. Those who can use magic can still use magic, those with mutations still have their mutations, and those who lack either ability still find themselves lacking.”

"Alright, let me get this straight." Sveta leaned on her elbows on the counter. "You can just... turn yourself into anyone, by magically altering your genetics. Or someone else's. Damn. There are like... a dozen occupations where you could make bank with this trick."

”I won’t argue with you there. I have seen far freakier things on the streets though.”

Sam took another pull from his beer before deciding to just down the rest of it.

”Yes. Well… Almost anyone. Can’t do snake hair, mantis body, or any other physical mutations.” Sam set the bottle on the counter and poked at the base. ”Sure, I could be a success at any number of careers and have more money than God… but I’m not interested in money. I want to make the world a better place. It’s my duty to make the world a better place. My work as a detective is helping make the world safer.” Not to mention giving Sam more time to improve his nullification spell.

Sam held the hairs he removed from his head to the key and reinserted it into his chest. With a turn and a flash of light, Sam had returned to his normal self. ”Wanna try, or see anyone else?”

In Sveta's experience, there were two kinds of people who would turn down 'more money than god' in order to make the world a better place instead. Idealistic do-gooders like the X-men, and fanatics. She knew better than to try guessing which one Travis would turn out to be. But seriously, the guy had powerful magic at his hands, and a mission to follow. She watched him, eyes narrowed. At least he was a cop, not a cult leader?

>>”Wanna try, or see anyone else?”

"Nah, thanks" She shook her head. "But it really is impressive. Does it... wear off after a while, or can you just walk around with the key in your chest until you get bored of it?"

Svetlana declined the offer to see Sam turn into someone else. That was fine, it was an odd thing to see. However, Svetlana did ask about limitations. Sam didn’t want to give away all his power’s secrets.

”The key doesn’t stay in.” Sam said, holding it up and looking at it.. ”Think of it… Like it is locking the spell in. Like locking a door. You slide in the key, turn it, and then pull it out. The door is locked. When you return the key it unlocks the door. Like the key in the door, this one unlocks the spell.” He left off the requirement for having the original body’s DNA.